Please Help Me Decide

[ilg1]

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Both schools are allopathic...

School A
Unranked
Tuition ~165k
Relatively low cost of living
Pass/Fail
Not a great location
Medium-Large Class Size

School B
Ranked ~45-55
Tuition ~210k
Low cost of living
Not a traditional Pass/Fail
Decent location
Large Class Size

 

[seeinghowitgoes]

If it's just a random opinion you want (because only you know what you weight as important), then because both are MD programs I'd probably be going for the money and true pass/fail, so school A.

I will build on my opening statement to add the caveat that the school is only part of the equation. What you value most (for example, how important is location, and what locations are you debating between because people can't comment/provide their views on misconceptions of said locations if they don't know the places) and what you hope do are equally as important. To just list school attributes might get you responses that aren't all that helpful to your particular situation.

Good luck.

 

[PugsAndHugs]

You left out the most important thing - which school did you like more and where do you see yourself being happier?

 

[ilg1]

If it's just a random opinion you want (because only you know what you weight as important), then assuming both are MD programs I'd probably be going for the money and true pass/fail, so school A.

I will build ok my openin statement to add the caveat that the school is only part of the equation. What you value most (aka how important is location, and what locations are you debating between because people can't comment on misconceptions if they don't know the places) and what you hope do are equally as important. To just list school attributes might get you responses that aren't all that helpful to your particular situation.
Good luck.

Thanks for the quick responses. The money and true pass/fail is my biggest draw to School A but part of me wonders if I'll be bored there. Having said that I probably won't have much of a life outside of school anyways.

I also wonder if School B's mid tier rank is worth the extra money and may open more doors in the future.

You left out the most important thing - which school did you like more and where do you see yourself being happier?

Both visits I equally enjoyed and to the last part of your question I have no idea, going back and forth.

 

[seeinghowitgoes]

I also wonder if School B's mid tier rank is worth the extra money and may open more doors in the future.

First I'll say it's just my opinion, but I think you can have fun anywhere for a few years.

To the quoted point, you're not comparing a top 40 school to a non-top 40 school. The little evidence that's out there suggest that cutoff may be slightly important, but even then it's lower on residency directors' lists (extrapolating from the residency director survey) than things like step score, etc. This is all to say I wouldn't attribute too much to that ranking difference unless you're interested in a very competitive specialty (and even then maybe not).

 

[Mansamusa]

Can you say the name of the schools because it does matter? Rankings aren't as important as the reputation of the schools (some schools are ranked highly even though many PDs won't recognize the name outside of the region). Some unranked schools have good reputations, but just choose not to participate in USNews rankings

What are the costs with cost of living added? If that brings the cost difference to less than $25K it is a different story than $45K difference.

 

[ilg1]

First I'll say it's just my opinion, but I think you can have fun anywhere for a few years.

To the quoted point, you're not comparing a top 40 school to a non-top 40 school. The little evidence that's out there suggest that cutoff may be slightly important, but even then it's lower on residency directors' lists (extrapolating from the residency director survey) than things like step score, etc. This is all to say I wouldn't attribute too much to that ranking difference unless you're interested in a very competitive specialty (and even then maybe not).

I am pretty ignorant to what is considered to be a very competitive specialty other than Derm, Rad Onc & Ortho. Would you consider either hematology, hematology oncology, radiology, endocrinology, and or neurology as very competitive specialties?

Can you say the name of the schools because it does matter? Rankings aren't as important as the reputation of the schools (some schools are ranked highly even though many PDs won't recognize the name outside of the region). Some unranked schools have good reputations, but just choose not to participate in USNews rankings

What are the costs with cost of living added? If that brings the cost difference to less than $25K it is a different story than $45K difference.

I'll PM you.

 

[seeinghowitgoes]

I am pretty ignorant to what is considered to be a very competitive specialty other than Derm, Rad Onc & Ortho. Would you consider either hematology, hematology oncology, radiology, endocrinology, and or neurology as very competitive specialties?


I'll PM you.

You can look up the fellowship match rates, only heme onc jumps out as being potentially crazy, but you have to go through internal med residency and Med school is going to matter a whole lot less than a lot of other factors.

Regardless I'll just reiterate what I said in the rest of the post - doubtful that a school ranked 50th is going to be the thing that makes your career. If all else is equal then the pass/fail and affordability would win out for me.

 

[ilg1]

You can look up the fellowship match rates, only heme onc jumps out as being potentially crazy, but you have to go through internal med residency and Med school is going to matter a whole lot less than a lot of other factors.

Regardless I'll just reiterate what I said in the rest of the post - doubtful that a school ranked 50th is going to be the thing that makes your career. If all else is equal then the pass/fail and affordability would win out for me.

As far as matching into fellowships go, does it come down to where you went for your IM residency, in-service exams, LORs? Or are fellowships like residency positions mainly predicated by USMLE scores and prestige or IM residency program? Thanks for your opinion and help!